Winthrop Invitational
Old Dominion (2-2) vs. Virginia Tech (2-1) | at Winthrop (0-2)
Tournament Info – Thursday, Sept. 3 - Saturday, Sept. 5
Location – Winthrop Coliseum (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Watch – ESPN+ (ODU at Winthrop)
Live Stats – ODU vs. Virginia Tech | ODU at Winthrop
Full Schedule
Thursday – Winthrop vs. Virginia Tech at 6 p.m.
Friday – ODU vs. Virginia Tech at 6 p.m.
Saturday – ODU at Winthrop at 2 p.m.
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball travels to Rock Hill, South Carolina this weekend to play in the Winthrop Invitational. After Winthrop hosts Virginia Tech on Thursday night, the Monarchs will play the Hokies on Friday at 6 p.m. and the host Eagles on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Winthrop will have live stats available for both matches and will also be streaming Saturday’s match on ESPN+.
The Series
Friday’s match will mark just the second-ever meeting between Old Dominion and Virginia Tech. The Monarchs made the trip to Blacksburg, Virginia for the 2022 Virginia Tech Invitational and fell to the tournament hosts, 3-0 on Sept. 3. The Silver and Blue started off the trip with a couple of 3-1 wins over Marist and Coppin State on Sept. 2, and Bailey Burgess and Teresa Atilano were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting with Winthrop.
About ODU
The Monarchs (2-2) had their first road match of the season this past Tuesday, a 3-0 sweep at Norfolk State. Leilani Lawrence paced the offense with 11 kills while Elisa Maggi and Rita Benidio finished with eight kills each and Erica Duffy tallied 24 assists. The team also set a new season high with 11 aces as five different Monarchs served multiple aces, led by Benidio with three. Emma Schelah recorded four blocks and Adrienne Peji, Maggi, and Duffy had eight digs apiece. ODU also improved to 4-0 in the all-time series.
Lawrence has had quite the start to her collegiate career and is the current national leader in service aces with 15. The first year outside hitter from Tampa, Florida also ranks second in the country with 91.5 points, is fourth in total kills with 75, fifth in total attacks at 191, 12th in aces per set at 0.88, 17th in points per set with 5.38, and 26th in kills per set at 4.41. Maggi follows her with 45 kills and 131 attack attempts, both third in the Sun Belt. First year setter Duffy has racked up 102 assists, fellow first year and libero Ashlyn Gent leads the team with 41 digs, and Schelah and first year middle block Emma RiRocco have combined for 25 blocks.
As a team, the Monarchs rank fifth in all of Division I with 38 service aces. They’re also 18th in team assists (186), 19th in team total attacks (538), 20th in team kills (197), and 23rd in aces per set (2.24).
About Virginia Tech
The Hokies (2-1) hosted Kent State, Coppin State, and William & Mary in the Hokie Invitational last weekend in Blacksburg. They defeated the Golden Flashes, 3-0 on Friday morning, but dropped a 3-2 decision to the Tribe that evening. The tournament hosts then edged the Eagles, 3-1 on Saturday, with third year middle blocker Izzy Mishler earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
The Virginia Tech offense is led by third year outside hitters Reese Hazelton and Destiny Walker, who have scored 38 and 37 kills, respectively. Fourth year setter Camilla Brandalise owns 74 assists, and first year setter Camdynn Gonzalez is next with 43 assists. Walker is the team’s top server with six aces. On defense, second year libero and defensive specialist Ivy Cooper paces the back line with 45 digs while Mishler enters the week ranked ninth in the nation with 1.92 blocks per set and is 10th with 23 total blocks.
Through matches played on Sept. 2, the Hokies rank 11th in the country with 3.42 blocks per set and 13th in team total blocks with 41. They’re also second in the ACC with 23 service aces and third in their conference with 1.92 aces per set.
Virginia Tech was picked to finish 18th in the ACC’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll and is led by seventh year head coach Marci Byers, who is 63-106 in her time with the program.
About Winthrop
The Eagles (0-2) are looking for their first win of the season after dropping both of their matches at the Davidson Invitational last weekend. They fell 3-2 to the Wildcats last Friday, coming up just short 18-16 in the decisive set, and then dropped a 3-0 match to Wofford on Saturday. Third year outside hitter Paige Bennett and second year defensive specialist Addison Torain represented the Eagles on the All-Tournament team.
Bennett leads the Big South with 4.38 kills and 4.81 points per set and ranks second in the league with 10.25 attacks per set. She enters the Winthrop Invitational with a team-high 38 kills and is followed by fourth year middle block Teagan Sychterz with 18 kills and fourth year opposite hitter Laila Glover with 14 kills. Second year Cami Roberts is the team’s primary setter and has 70 assists, and Torain owns team highs with four aces and 36 digs. At the net, Sychterz has recorded seven blocks and Glover is right behind her with five blocks.
The Eagles currently rank first in the Big South with 12.13 attacks per set, are second in kills pers set (13.00) and aces per set (1.88), and are third in team attacks per set (35.13).
Winthrop is led by fifth year head coach Heather Gearhart, who is 64-46 during her time in Rock Hill. The Eagles were picked to finish second in the Big South’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll with three first-place votes and 58 points, with High Point tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference. Bennett was selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team after earning All-Conference Second Team honors last season.
Up Next
ODU returns to its home court next weekend when the team hosts Navy and Maryland Eastern Shore in the Monarch Invitational. The Monarchs will take on the Midshipmen next Friday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. Navy will then play UMES on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m., and the Monarchs and Hawks will square off on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m.